Author's Note: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I apologize for not responding to all of them individually, but please know that I appreciate every single one.
Cam strode briskly out of the autopsy suite, heading for Dr. Brennan's office to ask her a question about the intern schedule. As she walked around the forensics platform, she noticed Hannah standing by herself on the far side from Brennan's office, texting with vigor.
Then, just before she reached her destination Cam heard Brennan's voice, barely audible, and cold as ice. "I can see that things have changed now that you are with Hannah. I will adjust my behavior accordingly."
"Just what the hell does that mean?" Booth shot back, clearly agitated.
"It means that I will assume that anything I share with you might be shared with Hannah and so I will be more careful about divulging personal information to you."
Cam heard the sound of furious typing. Glancing at Hannah, who was too far away to have heard and still engrossed in her phone, Cam decided the last place she wanted to be was in the middle of this mess, and made a quick U-turn, ducking into Angela's office.
Angela and Hodgins were sitting close together, talking quietly. They both looked up in surprise.
"Cam?"
"Yeah." She nodded in their direction.
"Did you…need something?" Hodgins asked. "You look—"
Cam shushed him, then peeked out to see Booth's retreating form.
"Gotta go," she said and left.
Hodgins looked at Angela. "That was weird, right?"
Angela raised her eyebrows and shrugged.
oOo
Booth approached Hannah, feeling strangely disconnected. He frantically scrambled for a reason—any reason—to cancel their lunch plans. He needed to process this and he needed to do so without being subjected to the careful scrutiny of the journalist who shared his bed.
"Seeley, I have to—are you okay?"
He shook himself and cleared his throat. "Fine. I'm fine."
They both began speaking at once.
"I just got a text—"
"I think I'm going to have to—"
Booth stopped, opening the door for her. "You first."
"I just got a text from my editor. It looks like I'm headed to Israel for a few days, following the Secretary of State. I know we were supposed to have lunch, but the plane leaves in two hours…"
"No, it's fine." He tried not to look relieved. "I'm pretty swamped, too. How long will you be gone?"
"I'm not certain. I'll definitely be gone through the weekend. Possibly through the middle of next week."
"Okay." He kissed her briefly, then looked her in the eyes. "Safety first?"
She smiled at him. "Safety first."
As she walked away, Booth tilted his head back and looked at the cloudless blue sky, wondering how the hell he was going to fix this mess.
oOo
As soon as Booth left her office, Brennan struggled to hold onto her anger and keep the threatening feelings of despair at bay. Recalling Hannah's flippant, Is this the guy you met on your cruise? was sufficient to stoke her fury again.
She knew things had changed between them, but she hadn't realized how much he had changed. Up to this point, Brennan had accepted responsibility for the problems in her personal life. She knew that her refusal of him had driven him to find someone else. She knew that she had missed her chance, and that Booth had not wronged or betrayed her by becoming involved with Hannah. But this…she had never expected that he would violate her trust by sharing things she'd said to him in confidence.
She looked down at her palms, surprised to find half-moon impressions her fingernails had left behind from clenching her fists.
Surveying her office, she realized that every space, every surface in this room held memories of him. In an uncharacteristically hasty decision, she decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. She had plans to meet Victoria for dinner that evening, and had intended to leave the lab no later than six this evening, but she suddenly just needed to leave.
As she was collecting her things, Dr. Saroyan entered, looking apprehensive. "Dr. Brennan…I have a few questions for you about—are you leaving for the day?"
"Yes. I have decided to take the rest of the day off."
"Ooooookay." Given what she'd just inadvertently overheard a few minutes prior, Cam decided not to question her. "Will you be in at all this weekend?"
"No. Did you have a question for me?"
"Mmmmm…yeah, about the intern schedule? I need you to take a look at it and let me know if there are any conflicts." Cam handed Brennan a sheet of paper. "No rush. Look it over this weekend and we can talk about it on Monday."
Brennan took the paper and slipped it into her bag. Cam was still standing in front of her desk.
"Is there something else?"
Cam looked uncomfortable. Reluctantly, she asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Why wouldn't everything be okay?"
"Weeeeelllll…last week you took a spontaneous week-long vacation without telling anyone where you were going, and now you're leaving at," she checked her watch, "two o'clock on a Friday with no plans to come back to work until Monday."
Brennan just looked at her impassively.
"That's not like you," Cam clarified.
"I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. I am simply following the unsolicited advice I've been receiving for years to cultivate a richer social life." Brennan gathered her things and breezed past Cam. "I will see you on Monday."
Stunned, Cam feebly called to her back, "Have a good weekend."
oOo
Brennan stepped into the shower at six o'clock feeling energized, but sticky after her workout. She washed slowly and thoroughly, reveling in the hot water and the feel of her soapy hands slipping against her smooth skin.
She was drying off when her phone chimed to indicate she'd received a text. It was from Victoria, and it read, Slight change of plans. Can you meet me at Founding Fathers for a drink at 7:15 before dinner?
Brennan texted back in the affirmative and then began getting ready. She regarded herself in the mirror as she brushed on her scant makeup and fastened her earrings. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her thoughts from Booth.
She was still angry with him, but she was also haunted by the look on his face when she'd all but told him that he wouldn't be privy to her personal life anymore. His face had held a mixture of remorse, devastation, and disbelief.
She honestly believed that he hadn't betrayed her on purpose. But to her mind, that made it even more likely that it would happen again in the future. And his explanation…we live together…as if she needed a reminder that he belonged to someone else now.
Her throat tightened, and she shook her head. She had managed not to cry over this, and she was determined to keep it that way. She was finished crying. Crying solved nothing.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up her coat and purse and headed out the door.
oOo
Booth was sitting at his desk, mind numb from filling out endless paperwork, when Cam appeared in his doorway.
He wasn't sure what to make of her sudden appearance. It probably wasn't good.
Before he could speak she asked, "You have dinner plans?"
He certainly wasn't expecting that. "Uh…no?"
"Is that a question?"
"No. No. I mean, no I don't have dinner plans."
"Well, let's go."
"What?"
"Get. Din-ner." She spoke slowly, emphasizing each syllable as if he were a particularly dim-witted child.
"Um, okay." He was a little disoriented. She'd caught him by surprise, and before he knew it, they were sitting at a table in a local pizzeria with beers, waiting for their pizza, when Cam said, "Alright, big man. Spill it."
The beer froze in the air halfway to his lips. "What?"
"Something is obviously bothering you. Given the fact that Dr. Brennan disappeared last week and then reappeared just as suddenly, and the fact that your strange behavior started when she took off, I'm guessing it has to do with her." In fact, based on the snippet of a conversation she'd overheard between Booth and Brennan earlier in the day, she knew what this was about, but she'd decided it would be better to keep that to herself for the time being. "So, come on, out with it. I'd like to get this portion of the evening out of the way so I can enjoy my pizza. This is my splurge for the week and I'd rather not have it ruined by your woes."
He set down the bottle and began peeling the corner of the label, avoiding Cam's penetrating gaze.
After a brief period of silence, he asked, "Do you know why she left?"
Cam snorted. "I know you haven't been around much lately, but I think you know better than to think that Dr. Brennan confides in me. We've been operating under a truce for a few years now, but we're not girlfriends." She paused and watched him carefully. "Have you asked Angela?"
He shifted uncomfortably in the booth, wincing as the vinyl squeaked underneath him. "Yeah, I talked to Angela while Bones was gone, but…she didn't know anything, either."
Cam looked at him as if she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, and waited for him to continue.
"That case with the surgeon just before she left? She was acting so…"
Cam nodded. "Yeah, we all saw it."
"And then when I talked to her yesterday she said the reason she took this trip was because she was figuring some things out…" Booth stopped, determined not to reveal anything too personal. He'd learned his lesson, but there was no way to explain the situation properly without getting into Brennan's private life. "You know what? Never mind, I…" He drained his beer and caught the eye of the server to ask for another. "I'll figure it out."
Cam pursed her lips and leaned forward. "Okay. Even though you're not asking, I'm going to tell you what I think. I think that Dr. Brennan is having trouble adjusting to the changes between you two since you got back. I think you're having trouble figuring out how to fit Hannah into your life, so instead of figuring it out, you just checked out on everybody else and focused on Hannah instead."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she said, "I'm not finished. I don't know what happened between you two last year, and I don't want to know. I don't want to be in the middle of this, but I can't help it because your personal life is disrupting my lab. I'm guessing you told Brennan how you feel about her and she turned you down. Then the two of you ran off to who-knows-where to get away from each other. You came back and realized that nothing had changed. Then Hannah arrives and makes a convenient buffer. Fine. Have your fun. It's not like you don't deserve it. You've been living like a monk for god knows how long."
Booth's jaw worked, but he stayed silent.
"So now Brennan's acting weird and you think that maybe it has something to do with you. But you're living with Hannah. And now you don't know what the hell to do. I know you. You feel like if you choose Brennan over Hannah that means you used her, which makes you a bad guy. And probably you're not even sure what Brennan is feeling, so why take a risk when you've already got a sure thing? But you know what's worse than admitting that you used somebody? Continuing to use them just so you don't have to face that you messed up." She took a deep breath. "Now maybe I'm way off base here. But if I'm right…you need to think about what you really want."
She held his gaze for a moment before breaking eye contact and saying, "That's all I'm going to say on the subject. So tell me…how are the Flyers this year?"
True to her word, Cam didn't say another word about Brennan or Hannah or his fucked up personal life. They talked easily about everything and nothing. Booth had a third beer, but barely touched his food. Cam was wise enough not to comment on that, either.
oOo
Brennan entered Founding Fathers, scanning the room for Victoria and praying that Booth would not be here. She spotted Victoria, and was both surprised and pleased to see that Robert, her husband and Benjamin were with her.
Brennan smiled as she approached them, pleasantly surprised. Benjamin stood and kissed her on the cheek.
Victoria spoke first, "I hope you don't mind the boys joining us. Benjamin had to come to town for business this weekend, so I invited him to join us, and then Robert wanted to tag along."
"Not at all." And she really didn't, which was a surprise in itself. She'd never handled unpredictability well. The pyramids are better at change than you are.
They each had one drink, and then repaired to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. Brennan marveled at how effortlessly conversation flowed between them, enjoying the ease with which she related to these people.
As they were finishing dinner, Victoria looked at her watch. "I hate to skip dessert, but Robert and I have to get home to make sure the boys make their curfew." She and her husband shared a glance, and she continued, "We had a lovely time. Let's get together again, soon."
Brennan nodded and murmured appropriate words of agreement.
Victoria looked at Benjamin, "Don't stay out too late, and mind you're quiet when you come in."
"Yes, mother," he teased her.
As soon as Victoria and Robert were out the door, Benjamin leaned closer to her and said, "So how are things?"
Brennan knew he was being deliberately vague. She could answer the question with impersonal information about her work or she could interpret the question as an inquiry about Booth and her metaphorical heart.
She sighed. She really could use someone to talk to about this who wasn't so…enmeshed. "Things are…complicated. I'd rather not discuss it in public. Would you like to come back to my place for a drink?"
He nodded thoughtfully. "Sure."
